"The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander
Kwame, Alexander. (2014). The Crossover. New York, NY: Houghton
Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Co. ISBN: 978-0-544-10771-7
You do
not have to play basketball to enjoy this book, but it helps! Even if you were
unfamiliar with how basketball is played, the love for the sport is still incredibly
clear through the words and actions of Josh and Jordan Bell. Their father was a
Euro-League basketball champion and it is obvious that they live to make him
proud and to be his legacy. Ball is life
for them and their father, even though their mother, a high school principal,
things there are other priorities as well.
This
book is not your average teen novel. It is written by a smart, athletic boy who
chooses to speak in hip-hop rhymes through out the story. This is appealing in
and of itself because it makes the reader follow along in a pleasant rhythm
that makes the book fly by. Since each line of words is so short, this book is really
appealing for the reticent reader! It looks very non-threatening and
interesting. Fewer words and sports? Perfect combo for a teenager.
This
book isn’t all fun and basketball games though. It deals with the ailing health
of a parent, sharing a twin brother with a girlfriend, teen stress and pressure,
disappointing loved ones, feeling abandoned and ultimately the death of a parent.
There are a lot of bases covered here. Readers can learn from Josh and Jordan’s
experiences and hopefully adapt to their own lives better afterwards.
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